I had heard that they designed vessels to be flexible, so that they would bend, rather than break, but this is the first time to see it in action. So freaking weird.

Even though we know it's supposed to flex like that, it looks pretty unnerving.

As an naval architect, you are pleased that such a phenomenon receives so much attention :)

Wow - I always wondered how ships took these stresses, but I never saw it depicted this graphically. They must have to check for metal fatigue periodically, just like on an airliner. Great video!

while the interior shots looks scary you have to remember how long those vessels are. Sky scrapers flex in the wind in a similar manner.

I joined the first big ship I was on , the Exxon North Slope in LA in Feb 1986. When I got up the next day after we were underway I looked out the port hole from my room which faced forward. The weather wasn't even bad just a blustery day really the deck was flexing sort of in waves.I remember thinking "I hope they know what they're doing". Later when we were loading in Valdez, AK I was on watch out on deck. We had radios to communicate with the mate in the cargo control room . I was walking around the deck singing the one verse from SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW that I knew. As I walked aft in front of the control room the mate was pounding on the porthole . My radio was stuck in the transmit mode and they had been listening to me sing for about 10-15 min.I was mortified.Good days.Thanks for the video.

Like the wings on a commercial airliner. Amazing video, thank you very much for uploading.

had no idea their was that much flex,wow

I know it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do, but it does not make it any less unnerving!

And that’s why planes have curtains and short cabins

Might be normal flexing but I’d be waiting in the lifeboat till the storm passed.

In weather like that, it makes you feel alive. I have stood at the helm and watched many a bow ploughing under the sea shaking up and down trying to break through the large waves to come back up. Being in the merchant navy was the happiest 28 years (1962-90) of my life...I still miss it.

That interior shot was scary to say the least.

This is my favorite engineering video! What more graphic example of designed and engineered in strength, flexibility and durability could one wish for than this marvellous, yet initially slightly unnerving video of a very large container vessel in rough seas? That's an awful lot of stress to subject a hull to, year in, year out, yet every such hull has to be so rated in order to gain certification and be insurable. This is so compelling to watch, and not something your average cruise ship passenger would want to see! I have seen photographs of a cargo ship whose hull failed, splitting the ship lengthways in two, and those crew at the stern thought the approaching hull they could see was that of a rescue ship when it was actually the bow section of their own ship passing them. It was quite an eerie image to see in a book, I can't imagine how the crew felt! As serving crew, I suppose it's best not to overthink about it too much, or go work ashore.

That's freaking amazing. My wife has an extreme dislike of sitting in traffic in a car on a bridge as trucks rumble by causing the bridge to flex and undulate. Even though she bought and sold structural steel for 15 years and knows how strong and flexible it is, it's terrifying to her. I just think it's amazing.

I've seen other clips of ships flexing, but this one is one of the most impressive. Some great engineering and shipbuilding at work here.

I don't know why but I love the videos of ships in the middle of rough sea. Also the videos of lighthouses with huge waves hitting them.

1:40 - Wow, wasn't aware they flexed that much in that many directions.

Thanks KZfaq for putting this BACK in my watch list after 3 years...........

This video simply shows what happens to a flexible steel beam (a ship) when a fluctuating load (waves) are applied. The beam flexes like a spring. At leat 6 problems for the naval architect/structural engineer/ marine engineer to solve: 1. excessive loads leading to yielding and/or buckling of steel members, 2. extreme deflections leading to containers smashing together, 3. excessive accelerations of structure leading to uncomfortable living/working conditions for the crew. Add to this 4. roll, pitch and yaw accelerations/angles of the vessel due to the response of the ship to the waves, 5. local water pressure pulses on the steel plate grillages around the bow area (panting), 6. exposure of the prop in extreme pitching leading to over reving of the engines and potential engine shut down and you have a complex engineering problem to solve. Amazing that any of our Christmas presents from China ever arrive on time!

I remember the old Baltic wooden sailing ship I was on, in a storm would flex . Looking up at the deck beams from below I could see them bend a little . She was built in about 1909 and still going strong !

Very informative video. Shows again the extreme tolerances which must be designed into sea-going vessels and large airliners. Scary to watch, but quite normal. If as you say, the craft has been designed correctly. Thanks again for sharing.

This. Was. Incredible. Thank you for posting!

I won’t complain about my office job anymore, I promise!

I was on a cruise ship with waves bigger than that, didn't notice the flexing at all. It was one of Disney's, one of the bigger ones (139GT and 339m x 37m). Very surreal see, especially with the mounted camera. Thanks for this!

Great video, I work at a shipyard and can appreciate this

Thank you for shortening my list of things I didn't know, and adding to my list of amazing things I do know. Cheers mates.

Great video. It makes me thinking back in 1977/1978 when i finished school and was waiting for my duty in the army. I worked via school at the office of Incotrans in Rotterdam and some colleagues (former Holland America Line crewmembers) advised me to go to sea for some time because sailing at sea gave at that time dispensation for the army-duty. I should sail on the lash carrier ms Bilderdijk from Incotrans and possible switch to the ms Munchen from Hapag Lloyd which were sisterships and sailing the same routes between North Europe and the USA. Shortly before going on board ms Bilderdijk the father of a friend offered me a job as freightforwarder for some time and i choose for this job and 14 months duty in the army. On Wikipedia you can read what happened with ms. Munchen end 1978 in a severe storm. This video remembers me what could happen with me when ............. It will allways be a big question to me but i'm still here and all the crewmembers of the ms. Munchen lost their lifes at sea.

My truck trailer flexes like that to, the containers probably help with the rigidity and support.

So Senator Collins why did the front fall off? Well a wave hit it.

Thank you very much for the post! For years I was looking for something like that...

Great video, real sound and no irritating music! Well done!

This ship is doing exactly what it supposed to do. The ship is designed to flex. Without the flex the ship would break itself into pieces.

I guess nobody went bowling that day.

Simply an amazing video. And hats off to the designers who have allowed for vertical, horizontal, torsional, comprehensive and tensile stresses, keeping the combined stresses within the elastic limit of the steel.

Just an amazing video. This is better and far more informative than any of the "above the waves" scary ships in storms videos I've seen.

Salute to the captain and his crews.

For the first minute it was "like a BOSS", then I see the inside and thought SHE'S GOIN DOWN !!!!

Thanks for uploading this. I knew the bigger ships flexed, but seeing it like this was very educational.

That’s absolutely amazing! I know a lot about land architecture, especially skyscraper architecture. I know that when you build a very tall building, it must be able to bend and sway with the wind, it does so to alleviate the stress on the higher stress points of the building. It’s kind of like a spring, but if they didn’t allow the buildings this way, and the winds were powerful enough, they could literally blow the building in half. Every single structure has a breaking point, I live here in Toronto, and while not an architect, I am a skyscraper enthusiast and amateur architect, haven taken many courses on skyscraper construction and industrial construction, I learned a lot about stress points and how they relate to the incredibly high winds we get here in the city. Look at the CN Tower, for so long and held the title of the worlds tallest freestanding structure, and to look at it you would never think in 1 million years that I could actually flex, but it does, and quite a bit too. When you walk up to it all you see is a massive concrete structure that you cannot see the top of, but in actuality in a very Highwinds the tower can sway up to 6 m in either direction. It takes a special type of concrete and rebar to maintain its shape while allowing flexibility to dissipate any stresses during heavy winds. If the building is not allowed the ability to dissipate that stress, overtime certain points of the building begin to weaken because of that stress building up, until you finally end up with a failure and a crack that could potentially lead to the buildings destruction. I’ve actually been in the CN Tower on a day the winds were gusting up to 120km/h, normally they close the tower during such high winds. Not because people would be in any danger, simply because many people would be absolutely terrified and get motion sickness, so to avoid that, they simply close the tower, but I had a friend at the time who worked in the tower, as one of the maintenance crew, and he let me in, because I always wanted to be in the tower on a really windy day to see what it feels like. He allowed me to go up to the sky pod, that’s the smaller pod above the main pod, you have to take a separate elevator to get to it, and even as we were going up in the elevator, the elevator cab was banging against the side of the shaft. Once you get up there, it’s not scary at all, unless you get seasick, because that’s exactly what it feels like, if you close your eyes it’s where are you were on a ship in the water in heavy waves. The only thing that disturbs me was the sound it makes, are you here is creaking and groaning and moaning the building makes as it sways 6 feet in either direction. It’s more psychological than anything else, because you’re convinced the building is going to break in half. I had to hang on to the railings along the wall to keep standing, but it was a fantastic experience, it’s a shame not many people get to experience it. Why am I saying all this? Because it’s the exact same situation with ships. During heavy swell conditions, especially if the ship is fully loaded, it must be able to flex and bend to alleviate the stress on the main structure. If it wasn’t able to, overtime the steel would literally start tearing itself apart, not something you want to happen in the Atlantic during a storm! I’ve never been on a ship at sea, but I’m assuming it feels exactly the same as being in a really high skyscraper during Highwinds, either way it’s a really fun experience, it’s not for the faint of heart, a lot of people have a major anxiety attack, throw up, or start panicking and sweating. Some even pass out, to which we of course laugh it because were just that mean! LOL! Thanks for posting this video!

I know any large thing(sky-scraper, ship, airplane, bridge, etc.)flexes. Seeing it is cool. Thanx.

Very interesting. thanks for showing this

Thank you. This is mind bending to observe.

Absolutely great video. Thanks.

Nice views and camera positions. Thanks for that idea.

Thanks for he video; i knew about this flexing og ships in high waves but seeing it as shown in the video is just amazing. Marvels of engineering indeed. Thanks for posting Claus.

Wow, that's nuts! Thanks for posting this!

Thanks for uploading it.

A rather good clip to show budding naval architects !

There's so much flex there, it almost looks articulated. You'd think it'd spring a leak somewhere 🚢

Great coverage! Nice video! Very informative

OMG YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY!!!! THANK YOU FOR THAT VIDEO!!!!!! I figured if it was stiff it would crack that open cause its important that that flexes.....I just didnt realize it was so much!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you again 1000 thumbs up!!!!!!!!

Incredible footage dude. You know it goes on but, Damn its freaky to watch lol Great upload. Thanks 👍

The quality of the steel is essential. The type used on these vessels you could bend in half before it would snap, not like the older, impure steel causal in many maritime disasters in the past .

Thank you! So interesting to see how the ship as she moves through the sea.

That’s insane to see this kind of stress that really happens on a ship! Great idea of a video to share who ever shot this clip!

The Captain of the ship I was on said the same thing and that is the ship needs to flex if it didn't it would buckle and split apart. We skirted two cyclones in the pacific and navigated the north sea flexing all the time. To the old salts it was normal but for the first timers it was scary as hell.

Really nicely shot video, always nice seeing quality work, thanks! (even if it's so creepy! lol)

Awesome video... Thank you... (and thank to the engeneers...)

Wow, amazing! Thanks for uploading

Don’t forget about the welders. They keep it glued together when the poop hits the deck.

That demands some serious welding skills to keep that togheter. Scary as f*ck to be on that vessel tho.

Great footage! Thanks for sharing

During WW2, there were ships of "Liberty" class. In order to produce them as quickly as possible, the body was welded and not riveted, as before. Unfortunately, many of them broke in two, at the beginning of the productions, because steel got harder, and stiffer having been welded, and that especially when exposed to low temperatures, in the ocean.

Stress makes strain. Everything is a spring until it enters the plastic zone.

When I was in the Navy I was assigned to an FFG, or fast frigate. I remember that occasionally when we were in sea's like this the screw would come out of the water and the blades would slap the water surface and send huge shockwaves throughout the ship.

Thanks for uploading this amazing video. I love video of ships in the sea.

Amazing footage!

Imagine a few cams like these on cruiseships, and then livefeed them to the cabins and restarants on big big screens ;)

My father was a cargo ship electrical engineer for 22 years At night he hid his key from his door in fear not to sleepwalk outside and fall overboard

WOW great aspect to capture the stress dude Thanks.

Thanks for the video. Makes you wonder how things really work.

Of course it all makes sense but I'm still surprise about the extent of movement - great vid

Imagine being your time on ship and seeing the hallways flex like 2:30.

Fascinating...thanks for this video.

Great stuff. Thank you.

Bloody 'Ell, so much for 1/2 thou engineering tolerances/shaft alignment etc etc

This is exactly the same when I sail with my Sevylor Caravelle over the Ammersee.

I'm an engineer on a german shipyard, responsible for main cable routing in basic design. Since many year I have to discuss with some idiots here how important are expansion bends on cable ways. These guys have never been on a vessel in storm, only in their warm and quiet office. :-( Now I have a very good help for my argumentation!;-) Thanks for sharing this video!

Simple but brilliant!

Weird flex, but ok.

Ships are flexible just like aircraft wings

Amazing video! It's something to see this vessel's backbone flex like that.

absolutely incredible.

When you get off ship after a long long trip, it will take few days to get out that funny drunk state 😁

I've seen entire horror franchises that were less scary! Put this in a movie!

Witnessed this in person on two different ships while in the Navy. Very cool video!

incredible video of the stress and vibration of a vessel..well done

He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya." Jeez, now I wonder if you can see compression going deep in a sub. ty Mr Tuxen God Speed the merchant mariners

Im from Philippines and many Filipino are working as a cargo vessel crew coz the company pay them high salary. Now I know why.

Rarely ever have I seen that's both terrifying and amazing at the same time.

I would have expected some flexure but this is incredible. Amazing footage. Well done.

Old stomping grounds back in 67 68 USS Valcour AGF 1 The Ghost of the little white fleet.

Interesting video. The ship is designed to flex. Try to look at the wing of a B747 during take off, flying, turbulence and landing. You will see the tip moving a lot /Cheers Adam

Excellent video!

Wow thanks for opening my eyes to this. I didn't imagine it would be like that. Cool video 🍻🍻

Like others said. Done by design but so very freaky to see in video. I'm a pretty chill person but that'd get a NOPE from me.

My dad served on a Fletcher Class US Navy destroyer in WWII. They sailed through a Pacific typhoon in 1945. He said it was a bit un-nerving when he saw how the ship flexed when he looked through the compartments. Likely, very similar to this.

I was a submariner for 8 yrs, but this made my hair stand on end. Great video, thanks a lot for uploading.

Wauw, I first saw this upload around 4 years ago, still amazing to watch, and still an awesome upload